Method and apparatus for arranging papers

ABSTRACT

An apparatus for arranging papers comprising a route switch lever which changes paper conveyor route for conveying a paper after a treatment depending on whether the paper is to be directly transferred to a discharge tray or stacked to form a paper group to be stapled together. The apparatus also comprises a stapler which receives papers one by one to form a stack of papers and staples an end of the paper stack. The apparatus further comprises a junction unit which has a conveyor route for directly transferring the paper to the discharge tray and is capable of moving between a first position for receiving a stapled group of papers from the stapling means and a second position for transferring the stapled group of papers to the discharge tray.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for arrangingpapers especially for aligning edges of papers stacked on a stacker trayso as to staple them for the purpose of various kind of editingoperations.

Image forming apparatus such as copying apparatus which is equiped witha paper edge aligning apparatus is known. Such an apparatus for aligningpaper edges is used, for example, for the purpose of stapling a group ofthe papers of copy.

An example of the known apparatus for aligning the copy paper edges isdisclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 59-78069.

The conventional apparatus comprises a copying apparatus body in which aphotoconductor drum and a developing device are disposed. On thephotoconductor drum, a visible toner image developed by the developingdevice is formed. The toner image is transferred to a transfer paper fedfrom a paper supply portion. After that, the paper on which the tonerimage is transferred passes through a fixing device and is thendischarged through a pair of outlet rollers.

The discharged paper falls due to the gravity onto a support table onwhich the paper is moved by conveyor rollers toward a stop. In thisconveying motion, the paper is biassed to one side of the conveyor routeby a paddle wheel which is obliquely disposed with respect to the paperconveying direction.

A leading edge of the paper abuts against the stop so that the paperedge is aligned with the stop. When a predetermined number of papers arestacked on the table, the paper stack is stapled by a stapler. Afterthat, the stop is moved away from the paper stack so that a group of thestapled papers is discharged onto a tray disposed below the supporttable.

In accordance with the conventional apparatus for aligning the paperedges mentioned above, the apparatus is arranged in such a way that thepaper discharged through the outlet rollers falls naturally by thegravity which takes a relatively long time to reach the support tableand impedes high speed prosecution of editing operation.

On the other hand, an example of apparatus for arranging papers equippedwith means for stapling a bundle of copies is disclosed in JapaneseUnexamined Patent Publication No. 59-82263. The apparatus disclosed inthe publication comprises a first conveyor route for conveying a copypaper which is to be discharged without stapling operation and a secondconveyor route for conveying a copy paper which is to be stacked andstapled. The paper to be stapled is conveyed in such a way that thepaper is turned over after the paper is stapled so that the trailingedge thereof becomes the leading edge thereof and discharged out of theapparatus.

However, in accordance with the prior art structure mentioned above, thegroup of the stapled copies is conveyed along and around the conveyorrollers which have a relatively small diameter, which causes malfunctionof paper conveyor especially when the paper is thick or a large numberof papers are stapled together since the paper or the stapled papergroup is hard and not easy to be bent according to the rollerarrangement. Therefore, the number of papers to be stapled is limited toabout twenty five in accordance with the conventional structurementioned above.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention was made considering the points mentioned above.It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to provide amethod and apparatus for arranging papers in which papers which are tobe discharged without stapling operation are reliably and quicklyconveyed to the paper discharge tray and in which the stapled papers canbe reliably and smoothly conveyed and discharged even if more thantwenty five papers are stacked and stapled together.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus foraligning paper edges in which the problems of the prior art structureare obviated so that the paper edges are smoothly and quickly alignedwhich makes it possible to shorten the time for editing operation.

The first object mentioned above can be achieved by an apparatus forarranging papers comprising: a first conveyor route for directlyconveying papers to a paper tray; a second conveyor route for conveyingpapers to be stacked and stapled; a switch means for changing theconveyor route in response to the paper to be conveyed; means forstapling an edge of a paper bundle comprising a predetermined papersstacked in sequence; and a junction conveyor means which is movablebetween a first position for receiving the stapled paper bundle from thestapling means and a second position for transfering the stapled paperbundle to the paper tray.

In accordance with the structure of the present invention mentinedabove, the paper which is to be conveyed without stapling treatment isdirectly guided to the paper tray from the conveyor route changing meansthrough the junction means one by one.

On the other hand, papers to be stapled are guided continuously onto astapling tray where a predetermined number of papers are stacked thereonin a manner that the edges of papers are aligned so that an edge of thepaper stack is stapled in sequence. After that, the other edge of thestapled paper bundle is guided into between a pair of junction rollersof the junction means which is in the first position so that the paperbundle is drawn into the rollers. After that, the junction means isshifted to the second position in a state that the stapled paper bundlebeing held between the pair of rollers. Then, the rollers are driven torotate reversely so that the paper bundle is discharged from thejunction rollers onto the paper tray.

The second object of the present invention mentioned before can beachieved by an appratus for aligning paper edges comprising: a papersupport table disposed below a paper discharge outlet; an edge aligningmeans for aligning trailing edges of the papers discharged from theoutlet and stacked on the paper support table for editing; and a paperend conveyor belt which is arranged substantially vertical with respectto the paper support table and the lower end thereof is positioned nearthe edge aligning means and which has teeth on the outer surface thereoffor engaging with the trailing end of the paper discharged from theoutlet so as to compulsively transfer the paper trailing end onto thesupport table.

Also, in accordance with the present invention, it is desirable toprovide a means for receiving the leading edge of the paper dischargedfrom the paper outlet, and to arrange the paper end conveyor belt insuch a manner that the length between the means and the lower end of thepaper end conveyor belt is shorter than the length between the means andthe upper end of the paper end conveyor belt.

An advantage of the present invention is that, with regard to the paperwhich is to be discharged one by one without stapling treatment, itbecomes possible to reliably and quickly discharge the paper since thepaper is guided directly to the paper tray from the conveyor routechanging means through the transfer route of the paper junction conveyormeans.

Also, another advantage of the present invention is that, with regard tothe papers to be stacked and stapled, it becomes possible to reliablyand smoothly discharge the stapled bundle of papers even if thick andhard papers are used or more than twenty five papers are stapledtogether, which is not possible in accordance with the prior artstructure wherein the stapled bundle of papers has to be conveyed alongand around the rollers having a relatively small diameter, whereas inaccordance with the present invention, the apparatus is operated in sucha way that, first the paper edges are aligned on the stapling tray, thenthe papers are stapled, that the stapled paper group is drawn into andheld between the pair of junction transfer rollers of the junction meanswhich is in the first position, and that the junction means is shiftedto the second position so as to discharge the stapled paper bundle ontothe paper tray by reversing the junction transfer rollers.

Still another advantage of the present invention is that the time foraligning edges of papers discharged from the paper outlet is remarkablyshortened, which makes it possible to heighten the editing speed.

Also, in accordance with the preferable structure of the presentinvention mentioned before, it becomes possible to further shorten thetime for aligning the edges of the papers discharged from the paperoutlet.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparentfrom the following description of the preferred embodiments of theinvention as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a constructional view of an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged partial view of a main portion of the structure ofFIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view for explaining the function of thestructure of FIG. 2 in a state of operation for paper to be dischargedwithout being stapled;

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view for explaining the function of thestructure of FIG. 2 in a state of operation for paper to be stacked andstapled;

FIG. 5 is another explanatory view for explaining the function of thestructure of FIG. 2 in a state of operation for paper to be stacked andstapled;

FIG. 6 is a constructional view of another embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a paper end conveyor belt array arrangedin the structure of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a plan view of the embodiment of FIG. 6 representing layout ofstaplers and the paper end conveyor belts;

FIG. 9 is a side view of the embodiment of FIG. 6 representing thestructure around the paper end conveyor belt and the discharge belt;

FIG. 10 is a side view similar to that of FIG. 9 representing a statewhere the paper discharge belt comes in contact with paper;

FIG. 11 is an explanatory view for explaining the arrangement of thepaper end conveyor belt;

FIG. 12 is a constructional view of an apparatus for aligning paperedges in accordance with prior art; and

FIG. 13 is an explanatory view for explaining a state of a dischargedpaper which falls by natural gravity in accordance with the prior art.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention is further described hereinafter in detail by wayof examples with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 illustrates a whole structure of an apparatus for aligning copypaper edges in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.Numeral 1 designates a copy conveyance portion to which a copy paper istransferred from copying apparatus as an arrow A. Copy papers areconveyed as an arrows B and C along a conveyor route in the copyconveyance portion 1. Numeral 2 designates a route switch which changesthe conveyor route depending on whether the copy paper is to be directlytransferred to a paper tray 7 or stacked and stapled as a group of copypapers. Numeral 3 designates a transfer means for transferring copies tobe stapled onto a stapling tray 4 in sequence, as shown by an arrow D.Numeral 5 designates a stapler for stapling a bundle of copy papers. Thestapler 5 is adjustable according to the size of the paper. Numeral 6designates a junction unit which comprises a conveyor route for directlytransferring the copy paper from the route switch 2 to the paper tray 7and is rotatable about a pivot 6a within a predetermined range of angleF so that the unit 6 is movable between a first position (solid line)for receiving a stapled group of copy papers from the stapling tray 4and a second position (dash-two-dot line) for transferring the stapledgroup of copy papers to the paper tray 7 as shown by an arrow E.

Note that mark in the drawing designates a sensor for detecting a paperor another movable member.

FIG. 2 illustrates a main portion of the present invention in detailwhich portion is designated by reference S and enclosed by a dash-dotline in FIG. 1. The structure of this portion comprises a pair ofconveyor rollers 11, the route switch 2 mentioned above, a stop 12against which lower ends of papers stacked on the stapling tray 4 abutsand which is withdrawn below the tray surface as depicted by adash-two-dot line to draw out the stapled group of copy papers, a pairof junction rollers 13 and 14, a spring 15 for urging the roller 14against the roller 13, a follower roller 16 urged against the roller 13,a change lever 17, a pair of guide plates 18, a pair of dischargerollers 19 and a sensor 20. The junction unit 6 is rotatable about thepivot 6a as mentioned before.

The embodiment of the invention mentioned above functions as follows.

First, operation for copy paper which is not to be stapled is explainedwith reference to FIG. 3. In this case, the paper is directlytransferred from the route switch 2 to the discharged paper tray 7through the junction unit 6.

The junction unit 6 is usually in the first position of FIG. 3 in whichthe route switch 2 opens the conveyor route as illustrated in thedrawing so that a copy P is introduced into the pair of junction rollers13 and 14. The change lever 17 is arranged as illustrated in the drawingso that the copy proceeds along the guide plate 18 and is dischargedonto the paper tray 7 through the discharge rollers 19.

On the other hand, operation for copy paper which is to be stapled iscarried out as illustrated in FIG. 4. In this operation, the routeswitch 2 is changed as illustrated in the drawing so that the copy P istransferred from the conveyor rollers 11 through the transfer means 3onto the stapling tray 4. The lower edge of the copy transferred ontothe stapling tray 4 is supported by the stop 12 and aligned therewith.When a predetermined number of papers are stacked, an end of the paperstack is stapled by the stapler 5 (FIG. 1). After that, the stop 12 iswithdrawn from the tray surface so that the stapled group of the papersPo moves downward and enters between the pair of the junction rollers 13and 14 which rotate and take the stapled papers into the junction unit6. When the stapled paper group Po moves a predetermined distance afterthe sensor 20 detects the rear end of the paper group Po, rotation ofthe rollers 13 and 14 stops so that the rollers 13 and 14 hold the rearportion of the paper group Po therebetween. It is to be noted that theroller 14 is biassed in the direction of the arrow by the spring 15against the roller 13 so that the paper group Po is properly heldbetween the rollers 13 and 14 irrespective of the thickness of the papergroup. Also, in this state, the change lever 17 is evacuated so as notto interfere with the entrance of the papers.

The junction unit 6 which holds the group of papers Po therewithin thenrotates about the pivot 6a by a predetermined angle as shown by an arrowF in FIG. 5 and moves to the second position. After that, the rollers 13and 14 are rotated in the reverse direction so that the group of papersPo is drawn out of the junction unit 6 and discharged through thedischarge rollers 19 onto the paper tray 7. It is to be noted thatduring this junction motion of the unit 6, another group of papers isstacked on the stapling tray 4.

In accordance with the embodiment mentioned above, the junction unit 6is arranged in such a way that the unit is rotatable about the pivot 6ato move between the first and second positions. However, the junctionsunit 6 may be arranged to move linearly between the first and secondpositions instead of rotational motion arrangement mentioned above.

The paper edge alignment mechanism used in the copying apparatusmentioned above or the like is further described hereinafter in detailin comparison with the prior art.

FIG. 12 illustrates a conventional paper edge alignment apparatus forediting papers. Such an apparatus is dislosed in Japanese Unexaminedpatent publication No. 59-78069, as mentioned before.

The conventional apparatus comprises a copying apparatus body in which aphotoconductor drum 51 and a developing device 52 are disposed. On thephotoconductor drum 51, a visible toner image developed by thedeveloping device 52 is formed. The toner image is transferred to atransfer paper S fed from a paper supply portion. After that, the paperon which the toner image is transferred passes through a fixing device53 and is then discharged through a pair of outlet rollers 54.

The discharged paper falls due to the gravity onto a support table 55 onwhich the paper is moved by conveyor rollers 60 toward a stop 57. Inthis conveying motion, the paper is biassed to one side of the conveyorroute by a paddle wheel 56 which is obliquely disposed with respect tothe paper conveying direction.

A leading edge of the paper abuts against the stop 57 so that the paperedge is aligned with the stop. When a predetermined number of papers arestacked on the table 55, the paper stack is stapled by a stapler 58.After that, the stop 57 is moved away from the paper stack in thedirection of an arrow as illustrated in FIG. 13 so that a group of thestapled papers is discharged onto a tray 59 disposed below the supporttable.

In accordance with the conventional apparatus for aligning the paperedges mentioned above, the apparatus is arranged in such a way that thepaper S discharged through the outlet rollers 54 falls naturally by thegrabity as illustrated in FIG. 13, which takes a relatively long timefor the paper to reach the support table 55 and impedes high speedprosecution of editing operation.

The problems of the prior art mentioned above can be obviated by anapparatus for aligning paper edges in accordance with the presentinvention described below.

In FIG. 6, reference s designates a paper or sheet which is to betreated by the apparatus in accordance with the embodiment of thepresent invention. The paper may be a copy when the apparatus isassembled with a copying machine or a record paper when the apparatus isassembled with a printer or a facsimile.

The paper s is discharged through a paper discharge portion (outlet) 74formed between a discharge roller 72 and an upper portion of a paper endconveyor belt 73 described later.

Numerals 75 and 76 designate a pair of support tables which receivepapers discharged downward from the paper discharge portion 74 one byone. One of the support tables 76 is slidable as represented by adouble-head arrow along with a stapler 77 described later.

On the side of the stapler 77 or on the side of the support table 76 asis the case in this particular embodiment, a paper end stop 78 issecured. A leading end of each paper fed from the discharge portion 74abuts against the stop 78 and received on the support tables 75 and 76.The stop 78 has an upper plate 78a which is bent upward to widen themouth thereof to reliably receive the leading end of the paper and guideit into the stop.

On a lower end portion of the support table 75, an edge aligning stop 79is arranged. Rear ends of papers stacked on the tables 75 and 76 abutagainst the stop 79 and are aligned therewith.

The lower portion of the paper end conveyor belt 73 is disposed in thevicinity of the edge aligning stop 79. Also, the belt 73 is arrangedvertical with respect to the support table 75. The paper end conveyorbelt 73 comprises an endless belt having teeth on the outer surfacethereof to form lateral grooves at a regular pitch.

As illustrated in FIG. 7, four sets of the paper end conveyor belt 73are disposed on the support table 75, in this particular embodiment,along the lateral direction of the table (perpendicular to the paperconveying direction). Each belt 73 is driven by a drive motor 81 alongwith the discharge rollers 72 through a drive belt 82 and a transmissionbelt 83.

As illustrated in FIG. 6, the paper end conveyor belt 73 is driven torotate in the direction of an arrow in a state of being biassed by atension arm 84. The paper fed through the paper discharge portion 74inertially flies and enters into the paper end stop 78 so that theleading end thereof abuts against the stop 78.

On the other hand, the trailing end of the paper s is received in agroove of the paper end conveyor belt 73 and compulsively guided towardthe support table 75. Around a lower end portion of the conveyor belt73, the rear end of the paper is moved toward the edge aligning stop 79in accordance with the motion of the belt 73 turning around the lowerdrive roller. Also, the paper is biassed obliquely toward a side guide75a disposed along a side edge of the support table 75 by a bias belt 85which is obliquely disposed on the table as illustrated in FIGS. 7 and8. Therefore, the paper is moved in the oblique direction to abutagainst the stop 79 and the side guide 75a. Note that a plurality ofedge aligning stops 79, for example eight in this particular embodimentas illustrated in FIG. 8, are disposed on the table 75, however only oneis illustrated in FIG. 7.

As mentioned above, the papers discharged through the discharge portion74 in sequence are placed at a predetermined position in a manner thatthe edges thereof are aligned with a predetermined line along the stops79 and the side guide 75a. When a predetermined number of papers arestacked on the table, the paper stack is stapled by an electric stapler77 illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 8 to form a group of papers to be edited.

It is to be noted that the above-mentioned bias belt 85 is driven by adrive motor 86 through a transmission belt 87 as illustrated in FIG. 8.

In the above-mentioned arrangement illustrated in FIGS. 7 to 9, a paperdischarge belt 88 is disposed between the paper end conveyor belts 73.The paper discharge belt 88 is driven to rotate in the counterclockwisedirection in FIG. 9. A roller for discharging papers may be arrangedinstead of the paper discharge belt 88.

With reference to FIG. 9, when the paper stack is stapled by thestapler, a solenoid 90 is energized to withdraw the edge aligning stop79 in such a manner that the plurality of stops 79 which are secured toa pivot shaft 91 at an end thereof are rotated to move to a positionillustrated in FIG. 10 so that the conveyor route for the stapled groupof papers is opened.

Along with the operation mentioned above, a solenoid 92 for shifting thepaper discharge belt 88 illustrated in FIG. 9 is energized so that abracket member 94 integral with a pivot shaft 93 is rotated whereby thepaper discharge belt 88 is rotated in the counterclockwise directionabout an axis 96 through a support frame 95 so that, as illustrated inFIG. 10, the left end side of the belt 88 comes in contact with thestapled group of papers.

The paper discharge belt 88 then discharges the stapled papers out ofthe table 75 to a discharge tray (not shown). Members 92 to 95constitute an example of means for pressing papers.

In the structure mentioned above, the support table 75 is inclined bythirty five to forty five degrees with respect to a horizontal plane,thus the leading end of the paper discharged from the discharge portion74 is oriented obliquely upward. The papers stacked on the support tablesmoothly slide downward since the table is inclined. However, it takes along time for the paper to fall onto the table surface since the paperis discharged obliquely upward.

Conventionally, the paper is left free to fall by natural gravity. Inthis case, lifting force by air functions to the paper, which slows thefalling motion of the paper. Especially, when the paper is curledupward, the paper motion is further slowed down so that sometimes thesubsequent paper comes in contact with the preceding paper.

In accordance with the embodiment of the present invention, the rear endof the paper is caught by a tooth of the paper end conveyor belt 73 andurged to move quickly to the support table 75, which makes it possibleto shorten the time for editing operation.

It is to be noted that the paper end stop 78 illustrated in FIG. 6 isnot indispensable to the invention. In the case without provision of thepaper end stop 78, the paper is discharged obliquely upward toward thestapler 77 and then moves backward naturally toward the paper endconveyor belt 73 so that the rear end of the paper is caught by one ofthe teeth of the belt 73 and urged to move to the support table 75, thusshortening the time to wait for starting the stapling operation incomparison to the case wherein the paper falls by natural gravity.

With the provision of the paper end stop 78, it becomes possible toshorten the time for backward motion of the paper to the paper endconveyor belt 73 as well as to urge the rear end of the paper into theedge aligning stop 79 due to stretching function of the paper.

Accordingly, it becomes possible to save the time that the paper slidesbackward by gravity on the support table 75 until abutting against theedge aligning stop 79.

With reference to FIG. 11, paper is discharged from the dischargeportion 74 and the leading end thereof abuts against the paper end stop78. After that, the rear end of the paper is caught by the paper endconveyor belt 73 and compulsively guided to the support table 75. Traceof the turning motion of the rear end of the paper is represented by ancircular arc of curvature R. The trace crosses over the paper endconveyor belt 73 as illustrated in the drawing.

In other words, the length between the stop 78 and an upper point x ofthe conveyor belt 73 is longer than the length between the stop 78 and alower point y of the conveyor belt 73, as can be seen from FIG. 11. Theformer is approximately equal to the length of the paper. The paper endconveyor belt 73 is arranged in such a manner mentioned above.

By equalizing the length between the stop 78 and the upper point x tothe length of the paper, the rear end of the paper is reliably caught byone of the teeth of the conveyor belt 73.

Also, by the arrangement wherein the length between the stop 78 and thelower point y is shorter than the length between the stop 78 and theupper point x, the paper is conveyed by the belt 73 to the support table75 in a state of being curled as illustrated in FIG. 6, which preventsthe rear end of the paper from being detached from the conveyor belt 73.

Note that, as illustrated in FIG. 6, gap h between the lower end of theconveyor belt 73 and the support table 75 is approximately equal to orslightly wider than the maximum thickness of the stack of papers to bestapled. When the paper end comes to the gap, the paper end enters intothe gap to the edge aligning stop 79 due to the stretching forcethereof.

With regard to the discharge belt 88, as illustrated in FIGS. 7 and 9,arrangement is made in such a manner that, in order not to impede thefunction of the paper end conveyor belt 73, the discharge belt 88 isdisposed between the conveyor belts 73 and withdrawn from the groovebottom of the conveyor belt 73.

The above-mentioned discharge belt 88 may be used to move the papertoward the edge aligning stop 79 by driving the belt in a state ofpressing contact with the paper on the support table 75.

The above-mentioned embodiments of the present invention are examples ofthe paper edge aligning apparatus in which a group of papers is stapledby a stapler. However, the present invention is applicable to any otherapparatuses which treat papers to be properly arranged and edited.

Many widely different embodiments of the present invention may beconstructed without departing from the spirit and scope of the presentinvention. It should be understood that the present invention is notlimited to the specific embodiments described in the specification,except as defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus for arranging papers comprising:aswitch means for changing a paper conveyor route for conveying a paperafter a treatment depending on whether the paper is to be directlytransferred to a discharge tray or to be stacked to form a paper groupto be stapled together; a stapling means for receiving papers one by oneso as to form a paper stack and for stapling the paper stack at one endthereof; and a junction means including a pair of rollers being able tobe positioned at each of a first position opposing to the stapling meansand a second position opposing to the discharge tray, and a moving meansfor moving the rollers selectively to one of the first position and thesecond position, the rollers being adapted to receive the stapled paperstack at the first position and to discharge the stapled paper stack atthe second position.
 2. A method for arranging papers comprising:a firststep for receiving a predetermined number of papers after a treatmentone by one to form a stack of papers and stapling an end of the paperstack; a second step for guiding the other end of the stapled paperstack into between a pair of junction rollers which is in a firstposition by rotating the rollers and holding the end portion of thepaper stack therebetween; a third step for moving the junction rollersto a second position; a fourth step for discharging the stapled papersto the discharge tray by reversely rotating the junction rollers.
 3. Anapparatus for arranging papers comprising:a switch means for changing apaper conveyor route for conveying a paper after a treatment dependingon whether the paper is to be directly transferred to a discharge trayor to be stacked to form a paper group to be stapled together; astapling means for receiving papers one by one so as to form a paperstack and for stapling the paper stack at one end thereof; and ajunction means which has a conveyor route for directly transferring thepaper to the discharge tray and which is capable of moving between afirst position for receiving the stapled paper stack from the staplingmeans and a second position for transferring the stapled paper stack tothe discharge tray, said junction means comprises a pair of rollerswhich are rotatable in one direction and vice versa, a change leverdisposed behind the rollers for changing a paper conveyor routedepending on whether one paper is to be conveyed or the stapled paperstack is to be conveyed, and a spring for urging one of the rollersagainst the other of the rollers.
 4. An apparatus for arranging paperscomprising:a switch means for changing a paper conveyor route forconveying a paper after a treatment depending on whether the paper is tobe directly transferred to a discharge tray or to be stacked to form apaper group to be stapled together; a stapling means for receivingpapers one by one so as to form a paper stack and for stapling a paperstack and for stapling the paper stack at one end thereof; a junctionmeans which has a conveyor route for directly transferring the paper tothe discharge tray and which is capable of moving between a firstposition for receiving the stapled paper stack fromt he stapling meansand a second position for transferring the stapled paper stack to thedischarge tray, a support table for receiving one by one thereon papersdischarged from a paper discharge outlet; an aligning means for aligningrear ends of the papers received on the support table; and a conveyorbelt arranged in such a manner that the lower end thereof is positionedin the vicinity of the aligning means and such that the belt issubstantially vertical with respect to the support table, the conveyorbelt having teeth on an outer surface thereof to thereby form aplurality of lateral grooves, the grooves catching a rear end of thepaper and moving compulsively the rear end of the paper to the supporttable.
 5. An apparatus for arranging papers according to claim 4,wherein said support table comprises a stop means for receiving aleading end of the paper, said stop means being disposed on an uppersurface of the support table in such a manner that the length betweenthe stop means and a lower portion of the paper end conveyor belt isshorter than the length between the stop means and an upper portion ofthe conveyor belt.
 6. An apparatus for arranging papers according toclaim 4, wherein said support table is inclined so as to orientdownwardly the rear end of the paper.
 7. An apparatus for arrangingpapers according to claim 4, wherein said aligning means comprises astopper disposed on a rear end of the support table, the stopper beingcapable of being withdrawn from an upper surface of the support table.8. An apparatus for arranging papers according to claim 4, wherein saidsupport table comprisesa pair of plates which are slidable with respectto each other in a conveying direction of the paper; and a stopper forthe paper disposed on one of the table plates at a side of the platecorresponding to a leading end of the paper; whereby a distance betweenthe stopper and the conveying belt is adjustable.